IS THERE A DIESEL FUEL ALTERNATIVE COMING?

[scrappy isb67]

Forget about running a diesel engine on 100% NG and no spark plugs. Direct injection of NG into the combustion chamber is to prevent power loss due to NG displacing air during the intake stroke.
Pilot injection of diesel to ignite NG is favored due to low cost, easier starting and dual fuel cabability if the NG supply runs out.
Highway diesels running on NG favour the direct injection of NG to maximize HP with the least weight, size/displacement and allows very high turbo boost psi.

you probably should tell Cummins that since their whole range of NG powered engines don't work! no spark plugs and no diesel!

 

[Ilikeurtractor]

you probably should tell Cummins that since their whole range of NG powered engines don't work! no spark plugs and no diesel!

I looked around on Cummins website and other websites that run Cummins engines on NG and I couldn't really find much information relating to this. The only thing I saw was one Cummins engine that ran on NG with a compression ratio of 10.5:1 which would necessarily make it spark-ignition. Do you have any other links that would confirm this? Seems very interesting.

 

[PoorMansCat]

The NG does not ignite from compression, the engine would suffer detonation as if it was supplied LP above the lower explosive limit.
NG works in diesels with pilot ignition. The injection pump is operating and injects a slow idle metering levels. Power is increased by adding NG to the intake air stream.
Why not burn somebody else's oil and keep our own for when everybody else runs out?

Yes, the dual fuel systems continue to run a small amount of diesel at all times, fuel duration is controlled by the engine ecm. The systems that I have witnessed first hand actually do not introduce NG until certain permissives have been met, i.e.... coolant temp, engine speed, engine load factor, Kw output, etc... And the systems shut down when the genset is taken offline so the NG has time to purge itself from the engine before the engine shuts off...
NG will ignite on its own in a diesel engine though. Been there, seen that... yes, it very well may detonate, but it will run... As for whether to use our own resources or some other countrys, Im not touching that one..!! hahaha.. Thats too close to a political discussion.... and I am running to low on cold beer to get into that conversation!

 

[MESSMAKER]

How true.

 

[WilliamTO-35]

The interesting point was made above that many pulling tractors using nominally " diesel" engines are running on ethanol. There's no black smoke, so it would seem they're running on pure ethanol, without diesel injection. There are apparently several ways to make this conversion, including using a spark ignition, but individual teams are reluctant to discuss the conversion methods. Although the methods they use are not necessarily designed for fuel efficiency or practicality, or even long engine life, I'd be interested in finding out how they typically do the conversion.

 

[ray66v]

The interesting point was made above that many pulling tractors using nominally " diesel" engines are running on ethanol. There's no black smoke, so it would seem they're running on pure ethanol, without diesel injection. There are apparently several ways to make this conversion, including using a spark ignition, but individual teams are reluctant to discuss the conversion methods. Although the methods they use are not necessarily designed for fuel efficiency or practicality, or even long engine life, I'd be interested in finding out how they typically do the conversion.

He could probably tell you what you need to know:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/customization/150985-diesel-garden-tractor-pulling.html

 

[DEWFPO]

They're also looking into making a diesel type fuel from algae. The algae can be squeezed like grapes and they release an oil that can be used in diesel engines.

It seems to make more sense (at least to me) to combine a variety of sources to make diesel fuel such that if any one source was to dry up, be affected by drought, or stop flowing it would make a much smaller impact impact on supplies and price. Blend diesel fuel from Crude oil, Waste oil, Soybean, Algae, etc...... and come out with a diesel fuel that is a cocktail of from different feedstocks. Diesel fuel to so much easier to make (more sources) than gasoline it should be much cheaper and come from a wide variety of sources.

DEWFPO

 

[buickanddeere]

Lets not forget how many centuries of diesel and gasoline there is locked up in coal deposits just waiting to be liquefied.
There was a bunch of resourceful characters that ran a pretty tough war fueled on converted coal. The home country had little to no crude oil deposits. Many people here can actually remember the actual events.

 

[Obed]

Lets not forget how many centuries of diesel and gasoline there is locked up in coal deposits just waiting to be liquefied.
There was a bunch of resourceful characters that ran a pretty tough war fueled on converted coal. The home country had little to no crude oil deposits. Many people here can actually remember the actual events.

What home country and where is "here"?

 

[buickanddeere]

What home country and where is "here"?

Ever hear tell of Germany?